The Game of Life
by y-in-flame
Summary: FINALLY! Something Tenten can beat Neji at! And to think, it had been sitting in the lowest corner of her games cupboard for so many years...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Dedicated to Midnight Insomniac. For the full reason, see in store for details. Nah, just check out the bottom A/N.**

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><p>Tenten rolled the dice and smirked triumphantly.<p>

"Three, two, one. I win. Sucked in, Neji."

She slammed her piece down on the finish line of the board game she and Neji were playing. They had just spent the last three hours playing this game and she was oh so glad for it to be over. Not that she didn't enjoy playing with Neji but sometimes, his competitive streak just got in the way. She looked up from writing her victory down on paper to see him glaring at his piece.

"Don't glare at the poor piece of plastic, Neji, it did nothing wrong."

She finished writing and stood up, putting a hand in the air and the other on her chest, striking a dramatic pose.

"After all, it was my _fate_ that I won."

She laughed as he glared harder.

"I let you win."

Tenten shook her head.

"You can't control what the dice does, Neji, I'm sorry. I won fair and square."

He crossed his arms and looked to the side, annoyed look on his face as he glared out her window. She put her hands on her hips and regarded him with an amused look on her face. He won so many times that a victory felt better than going to sleep clean and full of good food. Shaking her head at him, Tenten reached over and started packing up the pieces. She stopped when his hand reached over and gripped her wrist.

"One more time."

She sighed, a grin on her face.

"Why? You know I'm just going to win again."

Neji shook his head, determined.

"I will beat you this time."

Even though that was what he _said_, it wasn't what he _did. _Tenten beat him again two hours later. She had to stop herself laughing when he had to calm himself down by deep breathing. She cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, Neji, but you just fail at the Game of Life. Just admit it: there is something I am better than you at."

He glared at her and looked away again. Tenten couldn't help herself this time and burst out laughing. She reached over and patted his shoulder, stifling a laugh when he twitched.

"Don't worry Neji. It's just a game."

"You make it sound like the real thing."

She snorted.

"Good. That was my intention."

As he stood up and she shooed him out the door, she could hear him grumbling as he walked down her street to home.

"_Game_ of Life. More like '_game that only females can win_'."

Chuckling, Tenten closed her door and did a silent victory dance. Finally! Something she could beat Neji at! And to think, it was hiding in her games cupboard for the past five years...

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><p><strong>AN: Dedicated to Midnight Insomniac, because I received a troubling review for one of my other stories from them saying that they were annoyed because Tenten kept losing. Well, here it is. Neji sucks at the Game of Life. If you think about it, he really does. XD. BTW, if you've ever played the Game of Life, you'll know that unless you have the funniest people up against you, it really doesn't go for two or three hours. I knew it was going to be the Game of Life but wanted a large time frame. There you go. Review, because I like getting emails.**


	2. Chapter 2

Tenten lifted her head, wiping the drool from the side of her mouth. She'd heard something, she was sure of it. Blinking tiredly, she yawned and put her head back down, now sure that she'd just been dreaming. She was just drifting off when she heard it again, and growled, throwing herself off the bed to stomp down the stairs to her front door. Throwing the door open, she glared at the knocker.

"What!? Neji?"

She stared at him, rubbing one eye. He didn't even say hello, just pushed her out of the way to storm into her house.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"That stupid game."

"What stupid- oh. The 'Game of Life', maybe?"

"Yes. That. Where is it? I demand a rematch."

Tenten laughed, closing her door and joining him in the lounge room.

"Was losing too much for you to handle?"

He ignored her comment, looking around the room until he spied the board game nudged under her lounge.

"Come on, Tenten, let's go. You and me. I'm going to win for sure this time."

Tenten shrugged, moving over to sit across from him. She was still tired from work, but she wasn't about to pass up another chance to whip Neji's butt.

And so it went. Every day for the next three weeks, if they were free and didn't have a mission. She was really getting tired of it. Not that beating Neji was tiring, but doing it every single day was making it lose its charm.

On this particular day, he was trying a new strategy, throwing his pieces around at random and losing out on precious time. Eventually, when he finally did go, she beat him by eighteen paces and retired, counting out her money. Sighing dramatically, she threw herself back onto the lounge, looking up at the ceiling.

"Come on, Tenten. I demand we go again."

She groaned.

"Neji, this is getting so old. Why do you have this obsession to win!? It's not like I'm Naruto, punching your face in. This is just a game!"

He was studying the board, glaring at it to make it open up its secrets to him.

"It's the principle of the thing. I have to win."

She groaned again.

"I'll go grab someone else to play. Seriously, I can't hack this anymore."

Just as she stood up to leave, Neji's arm whipped out and gripped her wrist, stopping her from going.

"No, wait, Tenten. Just one more, I promise."

She eyed him for a few seconds before groaning again, slumping back down onto the lounge.

"Fine. I concede. Let's get this over with."

An hour later, Tenten counted her money and almost fell of the lounge in relief that it was over.

"That's it. I'm not doing that again, no matter what you say or what kind of bribes you use, you can forget it."

"Neither of us has won yet."

She lifted her head and glared at him.

"What are you talking about? I have the most money here. There is nothing more for me to win."

He gestured down to the board. She followed his line of sight and her breath caught. In place of her piece was a small silver ring. She glanced up at Neji.

"Is that what I think it is?"

He shrugged half-heartedly, looking down at it expressionlessly. She hesitated for a few seconds before reaching down and picking it up. It had a small, practical diamond right in the centre, with two even smaller diamonds on each side. She tilted it and watched the light catch on the jewels.

"You know, Neji..."

He lifted his head, waiting for her to continue. A small smile spread across her face.

"You suck at the Game of Life. But... in this instance, you win."

**A/N: I was perusing my stories when I realised that some reviewers didn't actually know what the Game of Life was. It was a board game from my childhood. A little bit like Monopoly, only you're actually controlling little people in a car. You start off with one, then continue through the board, choosing a career or college and continuing through the little person's life by rolling the dice and landing on squares. So, for instance, if you land on the marriage square, you add a little person to your car. If you land on the 'babies' square, you add how many babies to your car as is on the square etc. The way you win is by going through the board, retiring your little people and counting how much money you have after going through life. Whoever has the most money, wins!**

**Phew! That was far less complicated when I was a kid. By the way, so sorry to those reviewers who asked about how to play this game **_**three years ago**_**. I must've had email problems or something, never even saw them.**


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